Nightmares
by LaylaBinx
Summary: Josh is really the only one who sleeps in the apartment so he's the only one who has to deal with nightmares. Fluffy, cute stuff mostly. And of course, hurt/comfort goodness! :D Josh/Aidan and Josh/Sally, no realy pairings, just friendship!
1. Aidan

**Hello all! Okay, so if you couldn't tell by my first story, I like to beat the crap out of Josh ^.^ I have this really bad habit of becoming a total sadist with my favorite characters which means Josh is in for the beating of his life in all of my stories! But hey, that's why you guys read right? It gets really fluffy and Aidan gets kinda OOC (I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!) toward the end but I hope you all like it! :D**

**I own nothing! Damn...**

* * *

Aidan sometimes forgot exactly how strong Josh was. On the outside, he had this vulnerable, take-care-of-me look to him, not entirely helpless but definitely in need of someone to watch him and make sure he didn't get lost in a straight hallway or something like that. The nurse's called him Bambi and Doe-eyes and all sorts of other innocent yet slightly condescending names that Josh never commented on. Maybe he liked the nicknames and the attention, Aidan was never sure. He knew that Josh could take care of himself, was fully capable of making it on his own, but it didn't stop him from watching the younger man like a hawk when they were together. It was because of that, because he was always there to jump in in case anything went down, that Aidan forgot how strong Josh could be even when he wasn't trying.

He was reminded immediately of that mistake as a fist swung out suddenly and crashed into the side of his face. It hurt like hell and the force was strong enough to knock him backwards, not an easy feat if he were to be honest with himself. He landed awkwardly, half on the bed but mostly on the floor, one hand coming up to cradle the injured area. His lip was bleeding sluggishly and he was pretty sure his nose had been broken as well. There would probably be a bruise there tomorrow, he figured, I should probably come up with some kind of cover story. That was for later though. He was on his feet again, hovering over the thrashing figure in the bed and trying to wake him.

"Josh!" He whispered hoarsely, trying to keep his voice calm but struggling to keep it that way as another arm swung at him in the process. Aidan dodged this time and Josh's hand crashed into the bedside table, nearly knocking over the lamp. He grabbed the younger man's hand and pushed it back toward the bed, partially to prevent him from hurting himself and partially to prevent Sally from giving them both cold showers for a week for breaking things in the apartment.

Aidan was well aware of Josh's nightmares, they'd been friends long enough for him to have a first hand experience with some of them. He knew the younger man tried to hide it, tried to act like it didn't happen, but Aidan knew it happened. And Sally, now that they'd moved into her (sort of) apartment. Josh was really the only person in the apartment who actually slept so it made his night terrors that much more noticeable. Aidan had forgotten what it was like to sleep, actually sleep and not just lay there with his eyes closed, but he remembered nightmares. Hell, you didn't have to be asleep to have nightmares and he knew that for a fact. It didn't make watching Josh's any easier.

Aidan had seen everything from the whimpering, trembling nightmares to full-on wake up screaming nightmares. Josh would always sit there with a sheepish, embarrassed expression on his face when those happened and Aidan would calmly and quietly talk to him until the lingering terror had left his eyes and he could fall back asleep. But he'd never seen one like this. This was a fight, a desperate, life-or-death struggle in the throes of sleep and Josh wasn't waking up.

"Josh, come on man, wake up!" Aidan said, trying to keep one arm pinned to the bed without getting smacked again with the other one. Josh was hopelessly tangled in the bedsheets, his face pale and slicked with sweat from exertion. His eyes were squeezed shut tightly, wild, unruly hair sticking to his forehead, and he was in total fight-or-flight mode from the way he was struggling. One knee crashed into the wall next to the bed and Aidan heard plaster split and crack. Sally wasn't going to be happy about that but he'd focus on it later.

Josh let out a hoarse, gasping sound, the fingers of the hand Aidan had pinned digging into the mattress so hard his knuckles had turned white. Suddenly, the other arm came out of nowhere and grabbed a fistful of Aidan's shirt, twisting and knocking him temporarily off balance. As he fell, the other hand was released and Josh was on him, tackling him to the floor and landing on top of him.

Inhumanly strong hands wrapped around his throat and Aidan had a split second to realize that if Josh really wanted to, he could probably rip his head off right then and there. Josh's eyes were wide open but he wasn't seeing him, he was seeing a threat, an enemy, someone who needed to be destroyed. Using the floor as leverage, he managed to lift himself up and grab Josh, all at once rolling them both over and pinning the younger man to the floor. "Josh! Wake up!" He shouted loudly, adding a hard shove into the floor for emphasis.

There was a slow, uncoordinated blink, a shaky breath and a tremble that traveled all the the way through Josh's body. His breathing was fast and uneven, his heart pounding and his gaze unfocused. He still wasn't completely awake, still halfway between sleep and consciousness, but it was progress from where he had been. The tail ends of the dream were hanging on though, not quite ready to give up the fight. "No...get it off..." He breathed, his voice lost and far away, pushing again the vampire weakly. "Aidan..."

Aidan wasn't sure if he was dreaming about the night he was attacked or of something else but the helplessness in his voice cut deeper than a knife. He leaned down, cupping the younger man's face in his hands hand and resting his forehead against Josh's. "I'm right here..." He whispered, his thumbs brushing over the tear-streaked cheekbones. "You're okay...you're safe...I'm right here."

His reward for his actions was a sudden gasp as Josh woke up completely and an impossibly tight embrace as the younger man clinged to him like a lifeline. "OhGodohGodohGod..." Josh gasped, gripping Aidan's t-shirt and hanging on for everything he was worth.

Aidan didn't say anything, he just held him close and offered what comfort he could. He didn't know what the dream was about, nor did he know who Josh was fighting when he tried to strangle him jsut a few seconds earlier, but he wasn't about to ask unless Josh felt like volunteering the information first. Some things were too personal and he knew that when the time was right, Josh would open up about it. He sat up a bit, pulling Josh into his lap and leaning against the wall for support.

He knew Josh was stronger than anyone else gave him credit for and he knew that he'd been through more than he fair share of shit in the world. They had all be dealt a crappy hand in the game of life and being strong was sometimes the only thing you could do to keep from losing your sanity. But on nights like this, on nights when nothing felt okay and it seemed like the world was ending, Aidan didn't mind being the only strong one in the room. "I'm right here..."

* * *

**Poor Josh =( I don't even know what the nightmare was about and I wrote the story lol! I just liked the reactions ^.^ Sorry for the OOC-ness at the end, hopefully it wasn't too bad! Sally's up next! :D**


	2. Sally

**Aww you guys are so awesome! Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! I really wanted to add some tender fluffiness between Sally and Josh because they're both just adorable ^.^ Hope you all like it! :D**

* * *

Sally hated nighttime. It was dark, it was quiet, and most of all it was boring. It hadn't been so bad when she was alive because you could actually _do _something at night; you could go out with friends, make love, or just plain sleep. But when you're a ghost, there's really nothing to do other than...hover and linger. Sure, she could always go haunt the shit out of Danny but even that got old after a while and honestly it made her sick to look at him sometimes. So she was stuck here, in her rundown death trap (literally) of an apartment with a sleeping roommate.

Sally sort of envied Josh for being able to sleep through the night; you never get to sleep when your a ghost. She'd tried but being dead means you're not tired which means you have no reason to sleep...most of her "sleeping" involved laying on the couch and watching really terrible infomercials at 4am. The boys were usually nice enough to leave the TV on for her at night but after about midnight there was nothing worth watching anyway. If Aidan was there, he'd usually join her in not sleeping and keep her company while they debated the merits of such items as the Snuggie and Wonder Hangers. But Aidan had the night shift tonight and wouldn't be home until sometime tomorrow morning so she was left to entertain herself for the night.

Josh had come in a few hours earlier, ragged and worn from working a double shift. He'd kept her company for about an hour, watching Ghost Whisperer with her while she bitched and griped about how unrealistic the show was. Josh let her rant, knowing that sometimes it was best to just keep his mouth closed and let it happen. Sally appreciated that about him; Aidan was good at advice when she needed it but Josh was good at just listening. At first Josh hadn't been too wild about having a ghost join into the monster mash that was their apartment but he had gotten over it; it _was _Sally's apartment after all. Sure, they still bickered at each other like siblings most of the time but Josh was still the one who would bring back books for her and even went so far as to buy a bouquet of bright yellow daises for her one afternoon after she'd caught Bridgette and Danny in a rather intimate position on the couch. The house still rattled for a week but the flowers were beautiful.

Josh had gone to bed about two hours ago and now Sally was left alone and bored out of her mind. Without Aidan or Josh around, she couldn't turn the pages in a book or change channels on the TV so it was boredom squared. She debated stripping completely naked and taking a walk down the street just for something to do. It's not like anyone could see her and she'd never really walked around anywhere naked (maintaining a certain level of decency when she'd been alive had been pretty important to her) so now seemed like a good time to try it. She vaguely wondered what would happen if she tried to take her clothes off; would they reappear on her body the second they were removed? Would she be stuck in them interminably? She could roll up her sleeves but she'd never really tried to take anything off since she died. Being a ghost also meant you didn't have to shower or change.

She paced the length of the hall, trying her best to stomp and at least make some kind of noise. Her footsteps were completely silent as always and it was rather irritating that she couldn't even stomp in frustration anymore. So instead, she traced lazy patterns on the floor with her feet, drawing circles and squiggles and anything else to keep her mind occupied. She was on her third pass through when a startled gasp caught her attention from down the hall. She stopped, frowning, and walked down the hall toward the room. "Josh?"

Josh's room was at the opposite end of the hall, the door slightly ajar. Being able to flit in and out of every room of the house, Sally tried to at least give them the illusion of privacy by waiting to be invited into the bedrooms. "Josh?" She said again, stopping right outside his door and peeking inside. "You okay?"

Josh was sitting up in the bed, the blankets wadded around him. His face was cradled in one hand and the other was resting against the bedside table like he was trying to steady himself. He looked up when she entered the room, letting out a long, tired sigh and raking a hand through his hair. "Hey Sally." He said, his voice somewhat shaky as he spoke.

Sally walked in silently, her eyebrows knitted in concern. Her wolfy roommate looked pale and shaken and it wasn't a look she was very fond of. His shoulders were tense and rigid, his breathing uneven, and he looked like hell in a glitter covered hand basket. "You alright?" She asked again, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and looking at him closely.

Josh gave a weak, half-hearted smile and shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah...just a nightmare is all..."

Sally waited for him to continue but nothing else came. She knew he'd had nightmares in the past but nothing that seemed to have shaken him this badly. "You want to talk about it?" It sounded awkward and forced, something people said when they really _didn't_ want the other person to talk about it but they would feel like a total ass if they didn't ask. She wished she was still alive so she could reach out an touch him.

Josh shook his head slowly, his movements still sluggish from sleep. "Nothing to talk about really...I don't remember much of the dream. There was running or chasing or something...I don't know..." He looked away, looked out the window, and Sally had a suspicion that he wasn't telling her everything but she thought it best not to pry.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked, desperate to feel helpful in any way. "Do you want some water or something?" It was a stupid question and she knew it, she couldn't even turn a page in a book let alone pick up a glass. But she hated that she always felt so useless around the house because she couldn't touch anything so being able to do anything in this situation was really important and she wanted to be there for him.

Josh shook his head again, letting out another weary sigh. "Nah...I'm alright. Thanks though."

Sally smiled at him, wishing again she could touch him or hug him or something, but in the end all she could say was, "Alright...well, if you need something just let me know, okay?" She stood slowly, walking to the door and feeling utterly useless once more.

"Hey Sally...?"

"Yeah?" She turned around, looking back at her dishevled housemate curiously.

Josh looked hesitant for a second, clearing his throat awkwardly. "You can...uh...you can stay if you want..."

She smiled, watching the faint blush appear on his cheeks, and walked back over to the bed, sitting back down next to him. Josh laid back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling, and Sally followed his actions, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Thank you." Josh mumbled tiredly after a little while, turning to the side to look at her.

Once again, Sally copied his actions and smiled back at him. "Anytime."

It took a while for Josh to fall back asleep, he seemed hesitant to close his eyes and let the nightmares have a chance to return. Occasionally, he'd jerk awake from the brink of sleep, the muscles in his back going rigid all over again. Sally would look over at him, whispering softly to reassure him that she was there. "Shhh...go back to sleep puppy..." Whether he was too tired to comment on the nickname or not, she wasn't sure, but Josh never said anything.

She stayed curled up next to him all night, getting as close as she could to feel like she was providing at least some kind of comfort. Occasionally, she'd reach out, her fingertips brushing over his hair or his cheek even though she couldn't actually touch him. It was strange, it was almost like having your hand fall asleep and reaching out to touch something. Physically, she knew she was touching him but she couldn't feel anything. It didn't stop her from trying though.

Eventually Josh settled into a dreamless sleep, his breathing evening out and his face relaxing. Sally stayed curled close, her chin just barely touching his shoulder and closing her eyes. She knew there wasn't much she could do for Josh physically but if she could keep him company on nights like this, on nights when he couldn't stand to be alone and craved some kind of outlet like she did, even if it was just knowing that someone else was there, then she could be happy with that. They were all kind of alone in this crazy situation but being alone together wasn't so bad in the end.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked it! Thank you so much for reading! :D**


End file.
